Science Court
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| Science Court | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Squigglevision, animation |
| Created by | Tom Snyder |
| Developed by | Tom Snyder |
| Written by | Bill Braudis David Dockterman Tom Snyder |
| Directed by | Loren Bouchard Tom Snyder |
| Voices of | Bill Braudis Paula Plum Jennifer Schulman H. Jon Benjamin Paula Poundstone Fred Stoller and Jim Woodell |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bonnie Burns Tom Snyder Niki Herbert (coordinating producer) |
| Producers | Loren Bouchard Tom Snyder |
| Cinematography | Ivan Rhudick (post-production director) |
| Editors | Loren Bouchard (audio editor) Justin Montanino (assistant editor) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Burns & Burns Productions Tom Snyder Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 13, 1997 – January 22, 2000 |
Science Court (retitled Squigglevision in 1998), is an edutainment animated series from Tom Snyder Productions, which was aired on ABC's One Saturday Morning block from 1997 to 2000. The cartoon was "filmed in" Squigglevision.[1]
Overview
“The half-hour program mixed courtroom drama, science experiments, and humor to teach fundamental concepts in elementary and middle school science such as the water cycle, work, matter, gravity, flight, and energy. As each case unfolded, the characters in the trial used humor to highlight scientific misconceptions and model good scientific practice.”[2] In a typical episode, a lawsuit or criminal action would take place based around some scientific point. Humor and musical numbers were used to break down scientific concepts. Science Court earned top television awards for Tom Snyder.[3] Science Court utilized Squigglevision as its style of animation.
Characters
The primary characters of Science Court were the trial lawyers, Alison Krempel and Doug Savage. Alison Krempel, voiced by Paula Plum, was modest, intelligent and kind. Her logical and articulate arguments always lead to the explanations of the scientific points. Doug Savage, voiced by Bill Braudis, was ignorant, arrogant and unscrupulous.
Both Doug and Allison called on a variety of expert witnesses to prove their case. Doug, often to his detriment, called upon child academics Dr. Julie Bean and Dr. Henry Fullerghast to testify. Their scientific testimony disproved Doug’s case. Professor Nick Parsons, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin served as an expert for Alison Krempel. He used science to successfully refute Doug Savage's ludicrous and ill-informed claims. Often Micaela and Tim, Miss Kremple's assistant, helped to break down scientific concepts. Comedians Paula Poundstone and Fred Stoller rounded out the cast playing Judge Stone and court stenographer Fred respectively.
- Paula Plum as Alison Krempel
- Bill Braudis as Doug Savage
- H. Jon Benjamin as Prof. Nick Parsons
- Paula Poundstone as Judge Stone
- Fred Stoller as Stenographer Fred
- Jim Woodell as Fizz
Jennifer Schulman was uncredited for the debut of the series.
Status
Tom Snyder has had success parlaying twelve of the episodes into a series of educational CD-ROMs with accompanying workbooks and experiment kits for schools. On December 2, 2004, Snyder, founder and former CEO of Tom Snyder Productions, was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame to honor his extraordinary contribution to educational publishing.[3]
References
- ^
Rosenberg, Ronald; Ackerman (May 7, 1997). "Television Software creator hopes science series catches on". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Christopher M. Mayer. p. D.4. ISSN 0743-1791. OCLC 66652431. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
{{cite news}}:|first2=missing|last2=(help)(subscription required) - ^
"unknown".
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ a b Hodin, Debbie (December 3, 2004). "Tom Snyder Inducted into Hall of Fame" (Press release). Tom Snyder Productions. Archived from the original on October 25, 2005. Retrieved April 11, 2011.